California: Why can't EVERYONE just learn Spanish?

[Taverner]

And I mean that! No, I'm not talking about folks in their 50's suddenly being required to learn this beautiful, wonderful language. Reading Spanish language poetry should alone be reason enough to learn it.

But why can't we make it a graduation requirement for secondary schools?

If their first language is English, they need to be at a High School level of Spanish to graduate.

If their first language is other than English, then they need to be at a High School level of English to graduate. The second one is pretty much the case. Those cases of teachers passing students just to get them out is rarer than you might think.

But California (and I would say, Oregon, Washington, Colorado, New York, Illinois, Florida and Texas) has a huge Spanish speaking population. And speaking Spanish opens so many doors - even if its just a little Spanish - I can't see why we don't require it.

I have been forcing myself to keep up my Spanish. I wish I knew it better.

It may seem hard at first, but once you find the way to teach yourself a language, it gets easier every day.

Oh, and go check out the Spanish poetry. I swear, that language was made for poets and songwriters. All those words ending in 'o' and 'a'....

[arcane1]

1. It's certainly 1,000 easier to rhyme in Spanish!! n/t

[guardian]

63. try some tongue twisters

El perro de San Roque no tiene rabo porque Ramón Ramirez se lo ha robado.


or


En tres tristes trastos de trigo,
tres tristes tigres comían trigo.
Comían trigo, tres tristes tigres,
en tres tristes trastos de trigo.

[LuckyLib]

2. Great post. However, in our country we require some folks to be bilingual

and others not so. So we rail about children who need to learn English at school, but offer pale "foreign language" courses to our native English speakers who need it for a college entrance requirement. Where parents demand good bilingual and immersion language programs, wonderful learning takes place. We have to value it.

[Taverner]

4. I wish we ALL could be bilingual

But unfortunately, the Teabaggers think Jesus spoke English, so that's what they want...

[JuniperLea]

8. They think he was blond and blue eyed too...

See my sigline...

[Taverner]

10. Yep, and drove an SUV, watched football and loved the flag

Here's a quote I swore I didn't make up. Somewhere in a red state, I made a comment like "They don't make Jews like Jesus anymore," quoting the Kinky Friedman song. The neanderthal replies "Are you saying Jesus was a Kike?"

I laugh, thinking he's joking. I realize he isn't. I shake my head, and let out a loud "FUCK YOU, ASSHOLE."

[JuniperLea]

14. Carried a gun...

Probably to shoot dinosaurs.

And I'm sure that bit about long hair was just a commie lie.

[aquart]

131. Nah, that was Viracocha.

[Johonny]

3. I'm learning Chinese instead

[Taverner]

6. Chinese is ALSO a good language to have

Hindi and Tamil, not so much. Most Hindi and Tamil speakers, at least if they live here, learned British English back in India.

Vietnamese is also helpful out here tho

[JuniperLea]

9. Good idea!

Embrace our new overlords... you could get a much higher position with that attitude and knowledge!

We should all learn Chinese... for many reasons.

[Taverner]

13. If we learn Chinese, one request

Can we start teaching Chinese characters in grade school?

I tried and those are kind of hard.

[JuniperLea]

20. Oh man... there are so many too!

My oldest took Japanese, which I understand is similar. He has horrible handwriting, but his kanji was beautiful!

I remember writing my name when I was very young and I was rather dyslexic. It was a struggle! I can't imagine doing that with a far more difficult script... but I imagine youngsters in China learn it just fine.

[Terry in Austin]

89. Chinese writing may be "dyslexia-proof"

So claims an acquaintance who is fairly literate in Chinese and has dyslexia problems with English (alphabetic) writing.

One way or another, I've always thought that Chinese logographic writing was such a cool way to write. It's actually a written language, as opposed to phonetic/alphabetic representation -- which is basically just low-tech sound-recording.

[JuniperLea]

104. Great way of describing it!

Yes, actual words denoted by pictures vs shorthand, sound based writing.

[Karenina]

149. To speak Chinese coherently requires a good ear

If you're "tone deaf" you may want to take a pass on setting yourself up for failure. ;-)

[aquart]

136. Yes. Making it readily and consistently available to all.

[aquart]

132. Kicky book in the Internet Archives: Chinese-Sumerian.

Goes way back to the original pictograms (probably written on bone) and makes wonderful sense of the logic of the characters as they transformed.

[Loudmxr]

27. Spanish is sooo yesterday. Learn Asian language in Calif.

in LA county we are 13% Asian. The largest Thai community in the world outside of Thailand.

Most are Pilipino. Tagalog isn't that hard. Waray... a little bit more. (Shout to my SO who is from Leyte) 55 languages in the PI.

The start is to learn how to say good things in many different languages then take off from there.

People will LOVE you. Because you show them respect.

[Stuart G]

How about this??

我担心什么

[Stuart G]

65. How about this??

我担心什么

[ChazII]

168. Several elementary schools that

are in the IB program have Chinese as their second language program. In order to become an IB Early Years Programme School, the school must teach a second language. My school opted for Spanish since Mexico is our southern border.

Your decision to learn Chinese is a wise on, imho.

[chrisa]

188. Meh.

They're just going to implode soon anyways. India is probably the future.

[me b zola]

5. Recommended

I was thinking about this yesterday :)

Spanish was spoken in many parts of the US long before English, it seems crazy that more people don't speak it. And yeah, it is a beautiful language.

[JuniperLea]

7. I love listening to Spanish songs!

And I kick myself for having grown up in El Pueblo de Nuestra Señora la Reina de los Angeles de Porciúncula and did so without absorbing the language more fully. My daughter is fluent... I put her in a Montessori school with a language immersion program when she was very young.

I'm over 50... gulp... and I have been seriously considering taking Spanish classes... and Norwegian, just in case I really want to get out of here... they require 2 years of Norwegian language study before they will even consider anyone for citizenship.

That said, I think everyone should know three languages at the very minimum.

[tishaLA]

30. I have so many problems with Spanish songs

...and French too. My Spanish is pretty good (not as good as my French, but I converse quite easily in Spanish and do so most days), but there's something about hearing it sung that is a sticking point with me. In French, the words just don't sound the same sung as they do spoken, and in Spanish, I think I get stuck on the accordions that are seemingly omnipresent in Mexican music. Now raggaeton? That I can do, but mostly because it's rap.

[JuniperLea]

33. Spanish and Italian...

Sound so very close in songs, to my ear at least.

There is something in the brain that works differently with language when you sing rather than speak the words. I wish I could remember the exact explanation... it was in an article about a country western singer who stuttered all his life, except while singing! Mel Tillis, I believe that's his name.

[Terry in Austin]

94. You don't like accordions?

Oh, man, that's sad if so.

I know in some places, accordions get a bad rap -- okay, maybe when they use those huge shaky ones to play "Lady of Spain."

But here in Tejas, gotta say, accordions have never been anything but cool! Maybe it's something about the buttons instead of piano keys.

Check out Flaco Jimenez some time -- played with Doug Sahm and Ry Cooder, among others. Pure wizardry.

[Common Sense Party]

173. Not all Spanish-language music has accordians. Try some Soda:

Final Caja Negra
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=05nLZncmqA0

De Musica Ligera
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5FBAKfWgNu4

Un Millón De Años Luz
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hF7sTDvNkik

[Wait Wut]

11. I don't wanna learn Spanish.

Took two years of Latin, though. I say we bring it back. Or, if you like words that end in vowels, how about Japanese? I love hearing my son and d-i-l speak Japanese. It's gorgeous (not to mention amazing considering my son failed Spanish two years in a row).

Seriously, after a minor stroke a few months back I'm having a hard enough time with English.

[TwilightGardener]

12. We really should--same continent and all. Much of the rest of the world

is bilingual or multi-lingual.

[Spider Jerusalem]

37. Much of the rest of the world is bilingual or multilingual by necessity.

And most of those bilingual people? Speak their native language...and ENGLISH, because English has become the lingua franca of international business. The rest of the world's multilingual people? For the most part, speakers of a minority language or dialect who learn a "standard" version of the local language in addition to their native tongue to be able to communicate (like people who speak some German or mountain Swiss dialects learning standard German, or speakers of Catalan learning Castilian Spanish, or people who speak Welsh or Gaelic at home learning English).

[WatsonT]

96. I think if you ask the average European if they'd prefer learning 2+ languages

or have the entire continent speak their language most would go with the latter.

[Karenina]

150. I would challenge that speculation!

Especially since most European kids these days SPEAK ENGLISH. Mastering other languages is a status symbol. The more, the merrier (except among the French... :rofl: ).

Ever spent any time on this side of the pond?

[WatsonT]

157. It's a status symbol out of necessity

most people are not inclined to study a new language just for fun. That's why the rarer and less useful a language is the less likely people are to learn it.

They learn english because it benefits them, not because they are happy to add it to their repertoire even if it has no meaning.

Some people enjoy learning a new language for its own sake, sure. But not the majority.

[Karenina]

158. Upon what experience or polls or studies

do you base your opinion? :shrug:

[WatsonT]

160. Just that fact that in places where everyone speaks the same language

there is little incentive to learn a new language so few do.

In places where business/travel require learning multiple languages they do.

And that when people do go out of their way to learn a new language they tend to learn ones that are personally beneficial rather than ones that are chosen randomly, simply for fun.

If all of Europe spoke english and only english then Europeans would be far less likely to be bilingual.

Our tendency to learn only one language stems not from some genetic inferiority in the American subset of humanity but from the fact that learning a new language has little utility here.

[Karenina]

167. WOW! You REALLY need to get out more!

:crazy::crazy::crazy:

"Our tendency to learn only one language stems not from some genetic inferiority in the American subset of humanity but from the fact that learning a new language has little utility here."

I learned to speak fluent French in the Maryland school system taught by a perfect Parisian pedagogue back in the early 60's. That education has always served me well.


What you miss is that learning multiple languages has multiple benefits.

[WatsonT]

181. Drive from Maryland to New York

what language are they speaking?

Ok now swing by Montana on your way to California, then back through Oklahoma and the Carolinas.

Did you need to learn a new language to do all that?


Drive a tenth that distance in Europe and you will hit a dozen different nations with several dozen languages.

Obviously the situation regarding languages is not the same between our two regions.

How often does a lack of knowledge of french become a hindrance to the average American compared to the average European?

I'm sorry but your understanding on this is just wrong.

[Karenina]

189. My understanding is based in experience, not conjecture.

My move from Maryland to New York was a successful attempt to place myself among people who understood my language.

"English, she no one language mon. She many, many language." Carlos, the drummer from Africa.

How many languages do you speak? :shrug:

[WatsonT]

200. So in your opinion it is necessary to be multilingual to travel within the US

That is false.

I'm not sure how you aren't getting this. Perhaps you'd be better served mastering english before attempting to learn any new languages. Being partially fluent in several languages but a master of none isn't really a good thing.

[sakabatou]

15. I learned Japanese instead

Spanish was... well, listening to the audio, it became too fast to understand.

[roody]

73. Spanish and Japanese have the same 5 vowel sounds.

Please correct me if I am wrong.

[sakabatou]

81. Well yes and no

It has a, e, i, o and u. They're usually paired with a consonant and not all sounds can be "sounded out." Not to mention that there are 3 different writing systems.

[Art_from_Ark]

194. The romanization of Japanese vowel sounds is based on Spanish

So "a", "e", "i", "o" and "u" are pronounced almost exactly the same in the two languages. "Au" and "ai" are pronounced the same as well.

I teach English to some Japanese kids. I have some flash cards that are written in both English and Spanish. Kids who have mastered the "romaji" (romanized Japanese spellings) have little trouble reading the Spanish, after I tell them the pronunciations for consonants like the j, silent h, ll, rr, etc. (rr can be a bit troublesome, though).

[mike_c]

16. personally, I think that's an excellent idea....

No one is ever harmed by learning to speak to others.

[Karenina]

180. There's NO DOWN SIDE. Amis miss so much richness...

I don't get the rejection... :shrug:

[Sen. Walter Sobchak]

17. All of the unfilled jobs where I work are open for lack of a candidates with fluency

Unless we are hiring a Chinese speaker, we are usually looking at foreign candidates when filling positions where fluency in a foreign language is required in combination with other skills.

There is no excuse for why fluency in a European or Asian language shouldn't be mandatory for all graduates.

[Common Sense Party]

174. Good luck getting anywhere close to 'fluency' out of our schools

Unless it's an immersion program, it ain't happening.

You cannot and will not learn a language by spending 50 minutes in a classroom a few times a week, often learning it from a teacher who isn't exactly fluent.

[dkf]

18. I'd be happier if people learned financial literacy.

Managing your finances will make or break people.

[LeftyMom]

19. In the area where I grew up, Vietnamese would have been a better choice.

Or Hmong.

[Taverner]

21. There's a bunch of Hmong out in the Central Valley, aren't there?

Isn't Stockton supposed to have a bigger Hmong population than Laos?

[Odin2005]

146. We have a lot of Hmong folks here in Minnesota.

That language is INSANE, LOL!

[pink-o]

22. I remember when I used to visit Canada as a child

I thought it was so cool that everything was written in English and French, and figured it would only be a matter of time before we saw English/Spanish in the US. And actually, where I live (in the Outer Mission District/Daly City border) all the market signs are bilingual. Even the local box stores have signage in both languages. It's the way of the future.

The sad thing is, English is taking over the world. When I was first in Europe, you could only speak English in England, but on my latest trip a month ago, people everywhere spoke English to every foreigner they encounter. It's a tacit understanding that tourists and foreigners will be able to speak it. Bonus for me to move freely and know I can communicate, but it also depresses me cuz I'm worried about lost culture.

Even in Paris, I insulted someone by asking "Parle vous Anglais?" She huffed and tartly told me: "Of course I do! This is not 1975, Madame!"

Guess she told me!

[kestrel91316]

23. I know some German, French, Swedish, and Japanese. And of course

I am fluent in the language the Constitution was written in.

I see no need to fix what ain't broken with me.

[KamaAina]

24. I'm convinced we should rebrand our VTA light rail as the "tranvia"

"light rail" sounds kind of wussy, y'know? Also it might be possible to work "VTA" into the "-via" using the accent.

[Taverner]

29. Ferrocarrillia!

Or perhaps, Fuerocarrillia!

[KamaAina]

68. That, I believe, is the word for a full-fledged railroad

VTA, in its own literature, refers to light rail as tranvia, or streetcar.

[Taverner]

100. I was *trying* to add a diminutive

But I don't think it worked

My Spanish wordcrafting skills are seriously underdeveloped :)

[Iggo]

83. Rapidos corren los carros del ferrocarril.

rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr...........

[xiamiam]

25. i speak spanish..live in california..originally east coast..never thought i would but

one of the greatest gifts in my life..recommend to everyone..

[Viva_La_Revolution]

26. Oregon requires a second language to graduate HS

at least 2 years, I think, but it doesn't have to be spanish.

[WinkyDink]

28. I took Spanish. I love Spanish. I went to Spain after reading "Iberia" and spoke Spanish. But this

idea? Yo no deseo.

[Codeine]

31. Honestly? I just think it's an ugly-ass language and I don't want to speak it.

I can doddle along in my old high school German (learned so I could speak to my grandparents but sadly never had the chance to before they died) and I'd like to learn Italian, but I really think people should be able to choose whichever second language they'd like to learn rather than requiring a specific one, even here in California.

[yawnmaster]

54. Now German doesn't flow like Italian, and even Spanish, but damn, German opera will...

get your blood going.

[HockeyMom]

32. Having grown up in NYC in the 50s and 60s, with a large Puerto Rican population

taking Spanish in school was a no brainer. My friends and everyone around me was speaking Spanish. All the signs, yes even back then, on the subways and buses were in Spanish. When I voted in 1969, the big lever machines were in English and Spanish. Just as in many foreign countries, including HAITI, English is a required language in school, Spanish SHOULD be a required language in US schools. There is absolutely nothing wrong with being fluent in two languages.

If you think you will never use it, a big HA to that. 40 years after graduating HS and living in another state, I am working in a poor, Title 1 school in Florida where the majority of the families are Spanish speaking. I am finding after all these years, it's coming back to me. I am finding myself actually TRANSLATING for the families, and teachers, with only 3 years of Spanish in school 40 years ago. Never say never. I have found that my feeble attempts are warmly accepted by the Hispanic community.

[phylny]

49. Way back when I took the subway to work (in the late 70s, early 80s,

I would see: "La vía del tren subterráneo es peligrosa."

I took Spanish for four years in HS, and 3 in college. I can speak it enough to get by, but the Spanish-speaking families I work with are always gracious, are able to correct my mistakes, and we laugh together when we say "Spanglish" words.

[Karenina]

175. BWHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

That's EXACTLY the bit I memorized on the E train back in the day!!! Do you remember the rest of it, something about following instructions of personnel... ? I'm quite proud of my "Spanglish" which links me to the communities in which I formerly lived on both coasts.

These days I can peg a Catalan native speaking German, it's SO MUCH FUN! "How did you know where I come from?" Oh, something about the pronunciation. Doesn't matter if your grammar is perfect, there are those sounds that just come out differently! So one simply adjusts one's ear for the sake of communication. Languages are SO MUCH FUN. I have never understood the Ami monolingual hostility... :shrug:

[Shagbark Hickory]

34. Mandarin would make more sense.

[msedano]

35. love the thought..

of gente becoming at least bilingual. recalls the old saying that a person who speaks three languages is european, a person who speaks two languages is mexican, a person who speaks only one language and that one poorly, is a unitedstatesian.

for poetry lovers, or merely likers, every tuesday i publish La Bloga's On-Line Floricanto. Most poets de ascendencia mexicana (chicanas chicanos) write in English or code-switch. There is a significant number who write Spanish language stuff, for example, Francisco X. Alarcón's piece in last week's On-Line Floricanto. First, please enjoy my 500 word memoir then scroll down for the On-Line Floricanto that includes Alarcón's dual language piece, “Dove of the Desert /Paloma del desierto”.

http://labloga.blogspot.com/2011/06/snowy-ride-up-mountain-breaking-news-on.html

Atentamente,
mvs

[a la izquierda]

50. Gracias!

Necesito practicar mi espanol diariamente...pero estoy floja. Puedo leer mucho mejor de lo que hablo...

[LooseWilly]

86. Lo que me ayuda mucho en practicar es leer un periódico

Por algún razón La Jornada, desde el D.F., me ha agarrado: http://www.jornada.unam.mx/ultimas/ .

Leelo con un diccionario a la mano, y mejorará su español directo...

[aquart]

36. The Declaration of Independence is in English. Likewise the constitution.

Millions of immigrants have come to this nation and learned the language of our heritage. But you want to favor ONE immigrant group only? EVERYBODY learn Spanish? Not Swedish? Not German? Not Portuguese? Not French? Not Tagalog? Not Hindi? Not Farsi? Not Hebrew? Not Danish? Not Welsh? Not Laotian? Not Korean?

EVERYBODY learn the language of forced conversion to Catholicism? EVERYBODY learn the language brought to America by the conquistadors? Native cemeteries from that era have been dug up. Skeleton after skeleton with healed collarbone breaks. Know how you get them? Some bastard kicks the shit out of you while you're kneeling. SPANIARDS.

Yeah, that is just the best bloody language in America. If not the bloodiest.

[TwilightGardener]

38. ...

:yoiks:

[sudopod]

42. YOU SEEM UPSET

[backscatter712]

45. LOL!

That's the next feature that needs to go into DU3: Built-in support for creation of rage comics!

[Obamanaut]

48. I can see your point. If a person comes to the US to build a life, why

not learn this language, instead of the other way around.

[xiamiam]

57. its possible to do both..they learn..we learn..its a good thing. nt

[WatsonT]

97. And that has been the case with one glaring exception

there are big chunks of the border on the US side that are indistinguishable for mexico.

[backscatter712]

75. Except that in the case of Hispanic communities in the Southwest, the US came to them.

Some of these communities are 300-400 years old, and were under Mexican control until the Mexican-American War. And guess what. When these communities found themselves suddenly on the US side of the line, did they magically start speaking English just because the lines on the map changed? No, they kept speaking Spanish, and they still speak Spanish.

You want my opinion? All students in the US should be required to learn English and Spanish to fluency in school. There are millions of Spanish speakers in the US - the sheer numbers of them here make this situation different from dealing with a few Tagalog speakers. If Canada can cope with a large French contigent and handle dual languages, we could learn from them and treat Spanish with more respect.

[aquart]

128. So the Spanish conquer them, they learn Spanish.

The Americans conquer them.....English is too damn hard for them?

I am NOT in favor of language enclaves. I've seen Quebec. I've read about the Tower of Babel.

You favor a stealth conquest of our language and traditions. You favor one immigrant group when we have thousands.

Reeks of bigotry to me.

[EFerrari]

139. Our language enclave is not asking your permission.

And in many areas out here, the border migrated, not the people.

"Conquest of our language" -- who is this "we" you speak of, Kimosabe? Reeks of bigotry to me.

[krispos42]

144. While this is doubtless true...

...the issue of other parts of the Southwest that speak Spanish predominately and are expanding are a separate issue, IMO. I think it is largely caused by the ceaseless immigration from the south. By constantly having a stream of native Spanish-speaking immigrants, the generational acclimation to English is delayed.

This is compared to other immigrant groups, where after a set period of time immigration from a particular area was halted. Of course, this was back in the days of sailing ships or steamships, so crossing the Atlantic effectively cut you off from your roots on a permanent basis.

[xiamiam]

56. three quarters of the western hemisphere speaks spanish

its nice to be able to communicate with them

[aquart]

129. Yes, they were very thoroughly conquered.

It took scholars years to figure out some of their previous, original languages, so thoroughly and viciously did the Spanish destroy their history and culture.

By all means, honor Spanish.

[Capitalocracy]

170. The language you're speaking now is practically the tongue of Mordor.

You're criticizing Spanish in the language of the bloodiest empire on the face of the planet today!

[KamaAina]

69. Pennsylvania came within a single vote of declaring its official language to be German

Wie gehts? :eyes:

[Cid_B]

70. See? Thats what you get for biting at obvious bait...

[Starbucks Anarchist]

74. I remember those Spaniard bastards nuking Japan.

[aquart]

135. Hardly. Franco was a fascist.

Forget that, too?

[Starbucks Anarchist]

142. The analogy just flew over your head, didn't it?

:rofl:

I'll explain it to you. You have an aversion to Spanish because it's the language of the conquistadors (Hey, a Spanish word!), yet you don't see the hypocrisy concerning the not-so-peaceful actions of some English-speaking groups.

[EFerrari]

118. The rights of Spanish speakers and of the use of the Spanish language

is ALREADY protected by treaty here. Not Swedish, not German, not Portuguese, not French, not Tagalog and not Hindi or Farsi. Spanish. The first European language spoken in Caliornia. Maybe YOUR heritage is not Spanish but OURS is.

Good grief.

[Odin2005]

147. Este puesto es estúpido!

[PoliticAverse]

39. ¿Qué pasa si no quiere aprender español? n/t

[Stuart G]

61. No quuiere aprender espanol porque quiere

aprender ingles. Ingles es moy important en Wall Street..
...Usted Intiende?

[PoliticAverse]

67. Wall Street habla $$$$$s... n/t

[laundry_queen]

82. See now, I understood most of that .

I speak French fluently also. I'd love to learn Spanish as well. Between English and French, I can figure out most written Spanish communication. I just need to learn how to speak and pronounce it! I have a 4 year old girl so I watch a lot of Dora, but it's not quite enough...lol.

[w8liftinglady]

114. Quiero hablar con pensamientos similares.

es dificile a encontrar en Tejas.

[BoWanZi]

40. Me personally? I don't feel like it.

I did poorly learning foreign languages in high school so making it a mandatory requirement would have just made me hate it way WAYY more than I already did. I would have never become fluent in Spanish, I would have barely learned the minimum required. My brain just works in a way that makes learning languages very difficult for me. Hell, I barely passed English much less some other language.

English is the main language of the land currently so it really isn't required to learn another language unless you want to for whatever reason you so desire, just seems like that would be an unnecessary law.

Forcing it? That just doesn't seem like a good idea to me. If someone wants to learn it, more power to them but leave people like me alone who have a hard time picking up languages other than English.

[RebelOne]

41. I lived in Miami most of my life, took Spanish in high school,

and then later went to a continuing education class in Spanish years later. Living in Miami, which was largely becoming a Spanish speaking area, it helped out, especially when communicating with a mechanic, and at least I could say 'Mi carro es enfermo."

[awoke_in_2003]

43. Because we are a smug...

and xenophobic country.

[Raine]

44. I wish I could. I took four years of Spainish and

two years of German plus growing up among family members that spoke Norwegian. I seem to be one of those people who can't do another language. :-(

[IDemo]

46. Porque no puedo entender una palabra del idioma

¡Y también tengo cincuenta y cuatro años de edad!

[JackRiddler]

47. Because we've got some seriously backwards mentality in this country?

You don't see much of it on this thread, but imagine asking the question to your average 1000 Americans.

Sadi.

[xiamiam]

58. i shared a little time with european students in yucatan a few years back

very sharp..their biggest surprise was that the american students vacationing only spoke one language..they were disappointed while these young ladies were fluent in 3, 4 or 5 languages..oh well

[pipi_k]

51. Wait a minute..

Isn't there something strange about requiring Spanish when so many people in this country can't even express themselves adequately in their native language (English)???


I'm more embarrassed/disgusted by the fact that millions of Americans can't even speak a coherent English sentence than that they aren't bilingual.

[yawnmaster]

52. As languages go, Italian is much more beautiful. eom

[Codeine]

53. Absolutely. nt

[PoliticAverse]

85. Only because of the hand gestures required to accompany it... n/t

[Fla_Democrat]

166. Russian

A Fish called Wanda.... :evilgrin:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qMLYTZNmUmw





:smoke:

[marmar]

55. Learning additional languages opens so many doors.....

On my first trip to Spain, my Spanish was extremely limited, and though I had a wonderful time, I felt I could have had so many more wonderful exchanges with people if I had been more fluent.
So I took four Spanish classes at a community college, and practiced with friends who are fluent in Spanish whenever I got a chance. And my second trip to Spain was that much more wonderful.

[Motown_Johnny]

59. Because of all the other immigrants who come here that speak neither

english nor spanish


must we place an even greater burden on their children than they already have?

[Stuart G]

60. Usted habla espanol????nt.

[NutmegYankee]

62. Maybe some of us want to learn the language of our heritage - like German. nt

[Lydia Leftcoast]

197. That was my first foreign language, too

I picked it up as a child and teenager because so many people in my extended family spoke it.

But once you know one language, the others come more easily.

[Stuart G]

64. How about this one ....take a look...

מַה הוּא אָמַר?

[Stuart G]

66. No one should be left out...

ما يقلقني

[roody]

71. No se. No esta tan dificil.

[Capitalocracy]

171. no ES tan dificil

o si? :P

[and-justice-for-all]

72. Nein, Deutsch....danke...nt

[Scottybeamer70]

76. A me me gusta mucho hablar espanol.

I don't get to practice a lot anymore, but I've never regretted for a moment that I majored in Spanish in college.
Used to take junior high kids to Mexico every spring vacation. We had a ball........and they got to see how much
fun it was to know Spanish. They turned a little green at the bullfight.......but they made it.
One year I emceed a program at an elementary school. I spoke in Spanish and the other teacher spoke in English.
After the program was over, some of the Mexican people came up to me and wanted to know from which part of Mexico
I originated. I just smiled, and said Texas! Guess the blond hair didn't make any difference. That's when I
knew I had perfected the accent! My Spanish professor would have been proud.

[Taverner]

80. Eres norteno!

I'm a Euromix, but I have the black hair, brown eyes, olive skin and when my pronunciation was really good, I could pass - if only for 5 minutes! Then they'd learn "this guy doesn't have a whole lot of vocab does he?"

[Marrah_G]

77. My 18 year old son is learning Arabic,

He absolutely LOVES it. He took Spanish in HS and getting him to even do homework was like pulling teeth. I love that he will be able to speak another language. Once he is fluent he wants to learn Mandarin also.

[Taverner]

79. Spanish to Arabic - interesting transition

And they share a few words...Ojala comes to mind...

[Marrah_G]

88. He just hated language in HS

I'm thrilled he can now speak more then one language. I can only speak English and I wish I knew another language.

[applegrove]

78. Young children have a huge capacity to learn new languages. And in Canada, where we learn french,

they have found that kids who speak two languages learn what a 'concept' is long before other kids. Because they learn that "apple/pomme" is just a name of something...it is not the something in and of itself.

[Zorra]

84. I don't know. When I go to a Spanish speaking country, I speak Spanish.

I don't expect anyone in a Spanish speaking country to learn English just to accommodate me. Learning the language of another country/culture makes it so much easier to function within, and to better understand, that culture, particularly if you primarily reside and/or work within that country/culture.

In school, I would personally prefer to have the option to learn the languages of non-English speaking countries of my own choosing, and not be forced to learn one that I might not be interested in learning.

But yeah, Spanish is very easy on the ear, although Spaniards pretty often disagree with that when they hear my accent.

[Karenina]

87. How about a language requirement

to "graduate" from elementary school? Now THAT could be real fun and cut the number of people who "have no brain for languages" by substantial numbers! There is NO DOWN SIDE to being at least marginally bilingual. It's excellent training for developing brains and absent native tongue issues NO BIG DEAL for neurotypical kids.

[slackmaster]

91. There should be a requirement to learn English to "graduate" from elementary school

Too many kids get into middle and high school with poor mastery of it.

[mwooldri]

92. Hence freerepublic.com ....

:hide:

[WatsonT]

98. And basic math and history and . . .

[Karenina]

102. That's exactly my point!

Stunted language acquisition in one's mother tongue is highlighted by the inability to process another language. That could be a marker for children who need help in language acquisition in ENGLISH! What's the down side?

[Codeine]

133. Logic, science, math, and critical thinking as well.

Look at any science-related thread here in GD to see how many Americans are utterly ignorant of even the most basic scientific concepts.

[YvonneCa]

110. Dual-Immersion Schools do a wonderful job...

...of creating bi-lingual students in elementary school. They should be the norm.

[slackmaster]

90. The University of California already has a foreign language proficiency requirement

I believe the state university system has a similar requirement. Students get to CHOOSE which one they wish to learn in order to fulfill the requirement.

That is as it should be. Requiring high school students to take one more course would be a disaster.

I must give this a strong Unrec.

[msedano]

105. spanish was outlawed by UC

in 1963. the foreign language requirement was in place, but spanish language was specifically excluded from satisfying the requirement. ni modo, i was an English major.

i completed several other languages and never learned all those rules about diacritics and other nuances of my parents' language. hence, many refer to gente like me who speak and understand spanish as 'pochos' or folks who speak 'español mocho'. i've sat in academic meetings where ignorant colleagues claim chicanas chicanos like me speak broken English and broken Spanish (mocho). that, of course, is slightly off topic. mil disculpas.

thankfully, UC now not only teaches Spanish as a major (as it did when I entered UCSB), but allows the language to fulfill the foreign language requirement.

ate.,
mvs

[slackmaster]

151. I fulfilled the foreign language proficiency requirement by proving I could converse in Spanish

I entered UCSD in the fall of 1975. Not having to attend foreign language classes slightly eased my burden a bit.

[krabigirl]

93. I took five years of Spanish, 3 in high school. Still can't speak it. I never practiced.

But I can conjugate irregular verbs pretty well :)

[WatsonT]

95. That would be just fine

the trend though is to try to teach english speakers spanish but segregate out spanish speakers and put them in spanish only classes.

And on a side note I hate it when people refer to spanish only speakers as "bilingual".

[Ganja Ninja]

99. I think every child in America should be required to learn at least one

language other than English.

[mwooldri]

101. If states rule that English and Spanish are the official languages of the state...

... then it would be easy to do. Wales is a bi-lingual nation; English and Welsh lessons are compulsory in primary education and most of secondary education.

Of course we would need bilingual road signs... however not like this one:



I trust most people can understand the English.
The Welsh part reads: "I am not in the office at the moment. Send any work to be translated." The people who printed that roadsign hopefully went "bacia at ysgol".

Sorry I do not speak Welsh. Only a little French and German. My Spanish is still at the "Dora the Explorer" level.

[EFerrari]

116. The two languages are already co-equal by the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo

but recognizing that would require America to return to te rule of law and we just aren't up to it.

[Manifestor_of_Light]

103. I posted the story of the librarian who was angry at spanish stations on her TV.

Mad at her cable provider. Didn't want any Spanish stations on her TV. Didn't like the fact that Walmart has a Mexican food aisle. And this is in East Texas.

I told her I wished I was fluent in Spanish because it would make life easier. I doubt you can grow up in Texas and NEVER eat a taco or enchilada. I guess she never has had Tex-Mex food.

:banghead:

She is a librarian and probably doesn't realize that she's living in what used to be Mexico.

Probably watches Fox Snooze like all the other idiots here. They blame all their problems on "them Mezzcans takin' our jobs" and also on that Black president.

:banghead:

i had two years of Spanish in jr. high, loved it, had two years of Latin in high school, thought it was pretty tough but good for me. I've taken singing lessons and learned to sing in Italian, French and German.

Italian is the most flowing language to sing in and Spanish is the next easiest.

Singing in German sounds like you're launching lugies and have serious gunkosis in your throat.

[Taitertots]

106. Because it wouldn't benefit the vast majority of the people in the US

And it would soak up valuable resources.

[YvonneCa]

108. If ALL states did this...

...everyone would grow up bi-lingual. That would be a HUGE benefit to the whole country...not to mention the employability of each person.

[Taitertots]

112. That wouldn't cause it to benefit the vast majority of the population

"employability"
It would do nothing for employability. If everyone speaks spanish how would anyone be more employable than anyone else nationally. Internationally, the vast majority of the world's population doesn't speak spanish, so it would still be next to useless.

Where is the mechanism by which this is going to make anyone's life better?

[nomorenomore08]

115. The entire "world's population," no. But consider the Western Hemisphere.

Out of that half of the globe, the sheer number of native Spanish speakers is enormous. Not sure of the exact numbers, but I'm fairly certain they outnumber the native English speakers, easily. So how is learning Spanish as a second language - or better yet, a complementary first language along with English - not useful?

Honestly, the "no one *needs* to learn Spanish" folks seem rather provincial in their thinking, to me...

[Taitertots]

121. What about the Northern Hemisphere? You are arbitrarily selecting an area

We are better served requiring any foreign language than arbitrarily focusing on one. The world is much bigger than the Western Hemisphere.

"Honestly, the "no one *needs* to learn Spanish" folks seem rather provincial in their thinking, to me..."
No, I'm the "I don't care what you do on your own time, but that doesn't mean we all should do it" folks. I don't like the "I like something so I'm going to force it on everyone" folks. Oh, and taking German in college was something I chose to do on my own time and I don't think everyone *needs* to do it.

[nomorenomore08]

122. I don't think Taverner was talking about "forcing" anything on anyone, older folks especially.

And if someone really, really doesn't want to learn Spanish, then fine, God bless 'em. I'm just saying it could be very useful, even important, as time goes by and the U.S. becomes "more Hispanic," whatever that really means in practice.

[WatsonT]

153. If everyone spoke spanish how would that help their average employability?

Having certain skills only makes you stand out if others don't have them.

Like being able to carefully cut someones heart out and put another heart in its place, without the person dying in the process.

That is a very valuable skill.

But if everyone could do it?

[Karenina]

156. Not specifically Spanish, the skill involved is COMMUNICATION

and a positive attitude toward it, most easily developed in childhood.

"Like being able to carefully cut someones heart out and put another heart in its place, without the person dying in the process. That is a very valuable skill. But if everyone could do it?"

Hä? :freak: Erraaa... Hä?

[MadHound]

107. Why?

Because immigrants coming to our shores are speaking Spanish? That's not a very good reason. If we had followed that line of reasoning in the past, then our ancestors would have been required to learn Gaelic, German, Italian, and a host of other languages.

I'm not opposed to having students required to learn a language of their choice, since it has been shown that learning a second language helps with mastering the first one. But to learn a specific language simply because that is the language of our current wave of immigrants, no, there is no need for that. Immigrants are the ones obligated to learn the language of their new country, sorry.

[Mimosa]

164. ITA Madhound. Maternal grandparents born in Mexico, spoke Spanish

My mother spoke Spanish, my AZ relatives do, but my sis and I in GA never learned. My grandmother and mother wanted to reserve Spanish for their 'private communications.'

English is the language of America. I think that's a good thing. Nobody should be mandated to learn Spanish but it should remain an option.

The metro ATL counties are crowded with illegal Hispanics, btw. It doesn't make life better here. I believe African Americans are getting excluded from jobs they used to dominate, like construction. Roofing, home renovation and road crews are usually Hispanic and speak Spanish. It's odd when one has workmen in one's home and they don't speak English.

[cherokeeprogressive]

109. Don't wanna.

God DAMN I love living in a free country.

[w8liftinglady]

111. No le hace.

In Texas,it is beneficial to be multi-lingual.My partner is a bilingual elementary school teacher. he says it just easier when all kids have 2 languages to choose from.He tries to make it a fun game.

FWIW, he has also included Pakistani,Ethiopian and vietnamese kids in his little fun time.Kids are so open to learning new languages.

Yo hablo con todie que puedo,porque nadie en mu casa pude hablar espanol.Trato de ayudar a mis ninos a aprender,pero estes no quieren. Oy.

[nomorenomore08]

113. I hate to say it, but... *sigh*

Always seems like older white folks (50+ especially) complaining the most about this sort of thing. I'm not really pissed off about it, just a little disappointed.

And for the record, I'm a mid-20's white dude and lifelong Northern Californian. Not that that really matters.

[kiva]

117. California: Why can't EVERYONE just learn English?

:eyes:

[ElboRuum]

127. You beat me to it...

If we have a problem engaging coercion to learn English, then why would we be okay with coercive tactics to force bilingualism? I'm not at all saying that bilingualism is bad, in fact, quite the opposite, especially if taught early when we have greater facility with picking up language, but it should be a choice, not a requirement.

[Codeine]

130. Zzzzzing!

Well played.

[itsrobert]

119. Why don't they come up their own language?

I speak Californian.

[YellowRubberDuckie]

120. When my great great grandfather came over here for the land run from Western Switzerland...

...he did not expect anyone to learn French (He married my Native American Great Great Grandmother after coming to Oklahoma, by the way). He learned English. Irish, French, Italian and other Europeans and the Japanese and Chinese people who moved over here helped each other learn English so they could function in this country. I would never move to Germany and expect them to know English. It's just rude. Why should a group of people, many of whom come over illegally, expect me to learn THEIR language? I don't understand! Say I'm racist. WHATEVER.I just find it rude that people come over to our country and instead of embracing the way things work like Everyone else who has ever emigrated here has, we should kowtow to these people and learn THEIR language and let them fly THEIR flag over ours. They are being rude and I will not glorify their behavior.
Duckie

[EFerrari]

141. Have you ever asked yourself why your ancestor spoke FRENCH?

Forget that Spanish speaking immigrant families usually take less than a generation to assimilate or that they do that even when there are many fewer seats in ESL classes than there are students who need them.

Let's forget that and go with your reasoning. Spanish was spoken here in California long before English was so, by your logic, we should ALL be speaking Spanish and anyone who doesn't is rude and ill mannered.

[WatsonT]

154. Spanish is an immigrant language as well

the language of the people who raped, pillaged, and genocided (is that a word?) their way across much of the Americas.

So if you're going the "native languages only" then it's a wash between english and spanish.

[EFerrari]

161. Well, no, it's not a wash and that is the point I was making to the other poster. n/t

[WatsonT]

176. Because a language originating in Spain (europe)

is a more legitimate native language in the americas than a language originating in england (europe)?

Next you'll say catholicism is the more proper native religion than say baptist.

[EFerrari]

179. No. In order to get my point you'd have to read both Ducky's post

and my response to it.

Ducky said that immigrants should learn the language in common use. I replied that by her logic, we should all be speaking Spanish and not English in California. I made no claim that Spanish didn't replace indigenous languages or that it was more legitimate than indigenus languages.

But it isn't a "wash" between Spanish and English because Spanish was spoken here long before English migrated here.

[WatsonT]

182. How far back does a language have to go to be legitimate?

A few hundred years? A thousand? Or an arbitrary point at which spanish is legitimate but english is not?

[EFerrari]

185. I think I already addressed that.

The other poster was claiming that we should all be speaking English because Spanish speakers are newcomers. In California, that is obviously wrong.

[WatsonT]

199. The Spanish are new comers as well

Your argument essentially boils down to this: Person B mugs person A and stills his wallet. On the way home Person B is in turn mugged by Person C who steals the wallet a second time. Person B thus has a greater right to that wallet and has every right to complain to the police to get it returned to him because he was the first thief.

[EFerrari]

210. No, it doesn't. You really should stay away from metaphors

until you have them under better control.

[WatsonT]

211. So the Spanish didn't take the land?

Who knew that spain was in the Americas?

Have to update the maps.

[pink-o]

123. For those who say "They" should learn English (they meaning immigrant Latinos, I guess)...

...This isn't about "Them". It's about "Us" not knowing or appreciating any cultural experience outside of our own. The "English Only" crowd tends towards Jingoism, the attitude that we don't need to learn about anyone else because we're Number One and "They" need to emulate us.

And yet, I find that most of the "English Only" crowd couldn't diagram a sentence if their lives depended on it! Grammar eludes them, and their spelling is atrocious. Maybe if they truly learned their own language they would not be threatened by someone speaking another.

[nomorenomore08]

140. +100,000 to everything you said.

nt

[WatsonT]

155. The majority of the world speaks english

how does that prevent us from learning about other cultures?

Hell the name of the language comes from a different culture.

[Romulox]

163. People learn second languages organically, when they become USEFUL to them.

"The "English Only" crowd tends towards Jingoism..."

That's the entire issue, in a nutshell: namely, that this is more about politics than communication, on both sides of the issue.

[fascisthunter]

124. we are too isolated from other cultures

and though we claim to be multi-cultural, most just assimilate and lose their roots. I have taught myself a bit of German, and I too think learning other languages is a fulfilling endeavor. People are just mentally lazy I guess.

[Dreamer Tatum]

125. The opposite of 'jingoism' is clearly not 'reason.'

:eyes:

Why can't YOU just do what I want you to? (Answer: you don't wanna.)

[ElboRuum]

126. Because not everyone WANTS to.

And I still like the idea that the overarching social philosophy in this country is predicated largely on NON-coercion.

[Karenina]

178. This is NOT about YOU!!!

It's about providing children skills that will allow them to propagate PEACE and UNDERSTANDING; armed with the ability to think critically and COMMUNICATE.

[ElboRuum]

195. Actually, its about me and everyone else...

But don't let that stop you from shouting at the wind.

[Cleita]

134. Many of us already do.

I'm bilingual because my mother was Hispanic, but many non-Hispanic Californians actually speak a lot of Spanish because they come into contact with them on a daily basis while at work or going about their business. Many well-off Californians also had Hispanic nannies and learned from them to speak Spanish.

[kentauros]

137. What if you don't like poetry,

in any language? :P

Although I do like some songs, especially in languages I'd never learn, like Pashto, Urdu and Farsi :D

http://www.niyazmusic.com

[pitohui]

208. MOST people don't like poetry in any language

you are the human race, the OP is the oddball

it's ridiculous to suggest that schools should focus even more of their precious time than they already do, vaccinating people against language and poetry

years of high school english already guarantee that virtually everyone hates all poetry other than maybe some tacky rap music

our OP apparently wishes to expand this distaste to spanish as well

the great thing about language is that if you need to speak it, you'll pick it up, and if you don't, you won't

i can travel the world, barely speaking one language in an accent no one understands, and i do just fine

talking is over rated

yapping in multiple languages is REALLY over rated

[Stuart G]

138. Lo que me preocupa..?....it means...

What Me Worry? Alfred E. Newman...

If you do not know who he is...Well......................?

[rabs]

143. How about ...

,¿Que? ¿Yo preocuparme?

Alfred E. Newman? Ted Koppel?

Just kidding :-)

[Odin2005]

145. IMO Spanish should be a gradulation requirement for all Americans

[WatsonT]

177. What about English?

[LanternWaste]

190. I don't think the one denies the other.

I don't think the one denies the other.

[WatsonT]

201. Not necessarily

but in many parts of the US you can graduate without being fluent in this language.

I think we should first make sure everyone can speak english, then work on other languages.

[Odin2005]

191. English is nearly all American's native language, it doesn't need to be "required"

But I'm betting you are really just trying to bash people that speak non-standard dialects.

[WatsonT]

202. English is not all Americans native language

and saying so proves you've never spent any time in a border state.

[Synicus Maximus]

193. In my neighborhood Spanish is pretty much useless. But Vietnamese

Korean or Mandarin would be very helpful.

[Codeine]

198. Why Spanish?

Many of us would prefer our own heritage languages.

[Odin2005]

204. Most countries in the western hemisphere are Spanish-speaking.

[pitohui]

209. the countries may be, the people...may not be

in my travels about latin america i'm surprised at how much bad spanish is spoken, many of the folks are not native spanish speakers either

spanish more of a lingua franca, i've really had my eyes open to how many native languages there are

if you wait to learn a language to travel, you're putting an unnecessary hassle on yourself, just know the basic words and don't worry if your grammar is bad, sometimes theirs is pretty bad too...

[SwampG8r]

148. sadly when states need to find money

they find it in the arts and languages of our schools
2 years of either french or spanish used to be a requirement to graduate here but i am not sure anymore if they are
im lucky i was exposed early to latin and spanish and then french so i dont have a problem with any romance languages if i can have about 3 days immersion

[ontime1969]

152. yea nice plan

Real good idea....Not. That is one of the most ridiculous things Ive heard in years. You want to require Americans who speak English as a first language to take Spanish? Yet at the same time, organizations like LaRaza feel requiring Spanish speakers here in the USA to learn English is considered against the non English speakers civil rights and is construed as racist. The open doors that you found because you spoke Spanish is the real racism. Learn to speak a language because of the pure joy, and/or if you are living/visiting in the foreign land.

[KamaAina]

159. Why just us?

Put the J back in Tejas!

[Romulox]

162. I think it's short-sided to think that Spanish will definitely be ascendant

in the US of the future.

I think it is just as likely that Mandarin will become a leading second language, and perhaps Cantonese, after that.

[ItNerd4life]

165. lol at stupid idea. Let's make everyone learn chinese and indian too! nt

[Lydia Leftcoast]

187. There is no such language as "Indian." India has 150 languages.

The official ones are English and Hindi, but Bengali, Marathi, Tamil, Punjabi, Gujarati, Malayalam, and Telegu all have millions of speakers.

[Capitalocracy]

169. In a lot of Spanish-speaking countries, English is taught in schools

starting in grade school. In much of the world it's common practice though not a state requirement, and in many places it is a state requirement.

I like the idea of choice. People should be able to choose the languages they want to learn. But some foreign language should be a requirement, and it should be taught from grade school, not starting in high school. By then you're already way past prime language acquisition.

Pero para eso, tendriamos que contratar profesores. Hoy en dia, eso no se hace!

[Common Sense Party]

172. No offense, but that's a dumb idea.

No one should HAVE to learn any ONE particular language.

I have no problem with requiring SOME foreign language in high school, but the student should be able to choose. Spanish is no better than French, Japanese, Chinese, etc.

And just because it's TAUGHT in schools doesn't mean students actually LEARN the language. Unless you're in an immersion program from an early age, you're not likely to learn the language very well. I had 4 years of Spanish in junior and senior high; I could count to 20 and ask where the bathroom is. It helped me a little when I finally learned it, but the only way to really learn a language is to live in a country where it's spoken and you HAVE to learn it to survive.

I agree on the poetry--Antonio Machado brings tears to my eyes.

[zorahopkins]

183. Chinese Should Be The Required Language

Chinese (and perhaps Hindi) should be languages that are required.

Spanish should be encouraged, but not required.

In 15 years, it will be far more important to read and understand spoken Chinese and Hindi than it will be to understand Spanish.

[LanternWaste]

184. Because the vast majority of us are lazy and provincial

Why can't EVERYONE just learn Spanish?"

Because the vast majority of us are lazy, provincial, and too tuned into video games to waste time with something like education...

Although I'm fully confident all of the above has been, is, and will be rationalized by many, many uni-lingual and sub-literate Americans.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

186. It doesn't matter which language you learn first

Once you've learned one foreign language successfully, your brain has been trained HOW to learn a language. Most monolingual people think that learning more than one foreign language is difficult or impossible, but that's not true. Each one is easier than the last.

A multilingual musician once compared it to learning a new instrument after mastering the first.

That's why the Dutch and Scandinavians can learn English, German, and French without getting them mixed up.

That's why my Malaysian students were among my best learners of Japanese. They already spoke at least Malay and English, and some spoke Chinese and/or Tamil as well, because of their country's multiethnic population.

Spanish is a good starting point in many parts of the country. In others, an Asian language might make the most sense, and French would be the logical choice in places like Maine.

[Karenina]

192. My Dearest Lydia

What I REALLY DON'T GET is the lack of comprehension of WHAT FUN WE HAVE learning to understand each other. Often in those efforts, lots of "breaking bread" and I'm talkin' SERIOUSLY TASTY FOOD is involved!!"

There are so many interesting and fun insights to be gleaned. How is it that those from Portugal can understand Spanish easily, but not the other way around? Why do Germans have problems with French? Hell, it's ONE LESS article! :rofl: How come there are only 4 people in the world who can speak proper Finnish? ;-) :rofl: Why are Amis so hopeless? :rofl::rofl::rofl:

My 2 sons, once they hit double digits in age, SIMPLY DECIDED that they didn't want to depend on translations for their internet games. Having been exposed to my efforts to learn Japanese in their early childhood (I took them to class with me as toddlers and native speakers interacted with them as I did my lessons) THEY decided to pursue fluency.

In their late teens we met a colleague of mine at a restaurant. I sat there smiling cluelessly as the three of them carried on for an hour. Tomo later briefed me on how my oldest had some amazing subtleties down PAT (where'd he pick that up? NO IDEA!) and how precise the younger's grammar was (although his social skills were... well, just like they were in his native environs).

The two of them have some VERY FUNNY STORIES about being in places where no one ever expected that some bi-racial (non-Asian) kid could understand EVERYTHING they were saying!

[Lydia Leftcoast]

196. It IS fun to be multilingual

My first such experience was when I was tapped to serve as coffee pourer at the wedding of one of my relatives. Her mother (my grandmother's sister) had been brought up in a bilingual German-American household, and her father was from Germany, and all in all, the extended family on my mother's side was bilingual to a greater or lesser degree. Including me.

As I was pouring coffee, I overheard as one of the German guests tilted his head in my direction and asked the bride's brother: "Wer ist das hübsche Mädchen?" ("Who's the pretty girl?")

"Die Tochter meiner Kusine," the bride's brother replied. ("My cousin's daughter")

"Ich will sie kennenlernen," said the guest. "Stellen Sie mich ihr vor." ("I'd like to meet her. Introduce me to her.")

"Ach, sie ist zu jung für Sie--nur fünfzehn," the bride's brother told him. ("Oh, she's too young for you--only fifteen.")

All through the conversation, I played monolingual American. When the German guest came to get his coffee, he committed the common mistake of trying to take both the cup and saucer that I held out. "Man nimmt nur die Tasse," I told him, smiling sweetly. ("One takes only the cup.")

He nearly dropped "die Tasse." :evilgrin:

[Karenina]

203. Dontcha LOVE when that happens?

:rofl::rofl::rofl:

[AsahinaKimi]

205. I already speak some Japanese...learning some Mandarin

*Wo hue ti dao wu dan shan!! (Mandarin)

*Hwan Yeong!(Korean)

I would like to learn some Korean, eventually. I hated French and Spanish in High school. My French Teacher was a flirt from Algeria, and my Spanish teacher just shoved DVDs at us and told us to memorize them without answering questions, so I walked out of her class. I ended taking Student Teaching instead. I taught a bunch of little kids to speak Japanese and probably freaked out their parents. Then again, maybe thats why most of them are probably watching Anime today...




Just a side note: My friend, Mark is Native American, Lakota. He told me he is finally learning the Language of the Lakota, which I think is awesome. Its nice to know your ancestors language!

[pitohui]

206. because everyone can't learn a second language

i couldn't even speak english for years, nor could albert einstein, society is happy to throw me away but perhaps things would not have ended so well for the human race if you had also thrown away mr. einstein

people have different kinds of brains and for many of them, learning to speak one language is difficult enough

why can't everyone speak calculus? the poetry it speaks is the poetry of the universe and you can't hear it, you'll never be able to hear it

that doesn't mean i look down on you, well, maybe i do a little, just as you look down on me A LOT, but i accept that everyone is not the same and every beautiful thing is not for everybody

talking is fucking over rated, one of the great pleasures of travel is not having to deal w. the endless chit chat

silence is the most beautiful poetry of all

in the real world maybe less than one percent of the population gives a flying fuck about poetry in their OWN language, just accept that an interest in poetry is a nice frill, just like an interest in opera...it is not crucial to my happiness or to anyone but a tiny minority's happiness


you enjoy your hobby of spanish poetry and let the rest of us enjoy OUR hobbies, as far as i'm concerned

wordy people think words are everything, words are actually very little

[JonLP24]

207. Spanish is very hard to learn

I took it twice in high school and only know a minimal amount. My mom passed beginner and intermediate in college and still doesn't know Spanish. Though she probably knows more than people who only know English.